It's time for Battle of the Bands. This is an event that takes place on the 1st and 15th of each month. Far Away Eyes at Far Away Series gets the credit for first conceiving this study in song version comparison. Stephen T McCarthy maintains the participant list and answers your questions about the event--you can find his blog with a list of participants at StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This is not at all complicated: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battles to vote on.
I'm in a bit of a iffy situation this time around. I've gone ahead and prepared kind of a simple battle with a song that I like, but one that doesn't have a whole lot of personal significance to me or interesting story value to tell about the artists. If I'm on proper travel schedule then I should be in Montana or Wyoming when this post goes live and then heading home from there. A western sounding song seems kind of appropriate.
Jonny Young Four "Bodang Buck" (1972?)
Jonny Young Four won the Billboard and Record Mirror's 'Top UK Group Award ' three years running in 1972, 1973 and 1974 at the International Festival of Country Music, Wembley, London, England. I couldn't find much about this group. This is their cover of the song originally done by the group McGuinness Flint.
McGuinness Flint "Bodang Buck" (1970)
"Bodang Buck" was originally written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle of McGuinness Flint. and appeared on the group's debut album. This is by the way a great album well worth checking out.
Time to Vote!
Okay Buckos, time to do your part. Which song version do you like the best? Surely you think one is better than the other even if you don't like the song that much. Just judge what you hear. I realize they sound pretty close, but there are some obvious differences. Which version do you prefer? It's up to you to help determine the winner.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose (or which one was the least objectionable to your ears). Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.
Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:
‘FAR AWAY SERIES’
StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’
'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'
DC Relief Battle of the Bands
The Doglady's Den
Angel's Bark
Cherdo on the Flipside
Jingle, Jangle, Jungle
Women: We Shall Overcome
Book Lover
J. A. Scott
Quiet Laughter
Results on Friday August 21st
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Hi, Lee! I hope you are on schedule and enjoying the great states of Wyoming and Montana by this time. If you happen to take "Carefree Highway" on the way home, please keep your eyes peeled for my Ace comb. It must have slipped out of my pocket at one of the rest stops when I was out west a year ago and I'd like to have it back.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both of these country-meets-folk recordings made by UK bands. I'm going to vote for the Jonny Young Four because I loved that guitar pickin' throughout and preferred the vocal quality of the lead singer as well as the group harmony.
Thanks for another interesting battle, Lee, and enjoy the rest of your cross country trip!
Tom, we have been right on schedule every day. I'm sitting here early morning in the motel in Livingston MT while my wife gets ready. Going to get an early start for Yellowstone this morning and home again tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteNoted your vote for Jonny Young Four.
Lee
I listened to the original first (you know, because it was the original). I couldn't understand a word they said aside from Bodang Buck. I thought maybe it was just me until I played the first one and I understood every word. Turns out I prefer the instrumentation from Jonny Young Four, too, so this was an easy vote for them.
ReplyDeleteBe safe in your travels, Lee!
Robin, I kind of see what you're saying about the muddled lyrics. Since I usually don't pay much attention to lyrics it didn't take much notice, but I do understand what they're saying when I listen.
DeleteA vote for Jonny Young Four recorded.
Lee
Happy motoring, Lee. Enjoy the big sky country! ☺
ReplyDeleteThis song was new to me and I had to go searching for a different version of the second video (not available in Canada - Alternate link for Canada.
The McGuinness Flint version gets my vote; not sure exactly why, other than it was more pleasing to my ears.
Have a safe trip!
Debbie, glad you found an alternate version.
DeleteFirst vote for McGuinness Flint
Lee
Jonny Young Four gets my vote. I liked the vocals and the crispness of the music better in his version. Hoping you are enjoying the wide open highways of the magnificent northwest! Smooth sailing to you...
ReplyDeleteMichele at Angels Bark
Michele, it was a great trip and now we're safely home again.
DeleteVoted for Jonny Young Four
Lee
At first i thought it impossible to choose which was best. But I did like the clarity of the vocals of McGuinness Flint better. So McGuinness gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteAnn, funny how different ones of us hear things differently.
DeleteA vote for McGuinness Flint
Lee
While McGuinness Flint has that country twang, I preferred Jonny Young - for vocals and uptempo beat. The album cover is certainly pleasing :-)
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy your last few days on the road :-) Do you kinda feel like dragging your feet at this point, or will you both be glad to get home?
Diedre, I could have kept going a few more days, but now it's kind of nice to be back home.
DeleteJonny Young Four.
Lee
I vote for McGuinness Flint because they sound less country than the first one. They have the appeal like Crosby, Stills and Nash..to me anyway. They sound a bit more folk rock where the first sound more country
ReplyDeleteBirgit, I know what you're saying.
DeleteA vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
Not much for "battle of the Bands"... sounds "Fun", good Sir ... but we do enjoy you "writers" posts and the great comments that people post...
ReplyDeletehave a great weekend and bless you..
Dr. Theda, I've been mostly focusing on these BOTB posts lately, but I'll keep doing the "writers" posts as well.
DeleteLee
I'm giving my vote to McGuinness Flint, though I'm not sure why. They both sounded VERY similar to me, but I think I listened to that one a bit longer.
ReplyDeleteMadilyn, I'll agree there was a lot of similarity and one has to listen fairly closely to hear the nuanced differences.
DeleteThanks for your vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
I vote for Mcuinness Flint, and I have heard of them. They had a song that got a lot of airplay while I was living in Colorado; 'When I'm Dead and Gone'. I liked their sound then and here in this BATTLE also.
ReplyDeleteI used to live on the edge of that big ole cauldera called Yellowstone. Knew that when it blew, I would hve been at 'ground zero', and they tell us it will blow one day. And yet, I visited there often and knew a lot of great places 'off the beaten track'. Used to go swimming in the Firehole River almost every year.
FAE, I used "When I'm Dead and Gone" on an earlier BOTB post that I did.
DeleteAll the while we were in Yellowstone I was thinking of the big blow up and kidding my wife about it. It's worth the visit and if we'd had gotten blown up it would have been worth the trip even still.
Thanks for the vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
I like the second one best. It has a Beatles vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteAlex, now that you mention it I do hear that Beatles vibe.
DeleteMcGuinness Flint
Lee
I like Jonny young Four, I can remember that one, I was pregnant with my daughter at the time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Lee.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, thought you might remember that group though they were new to me.
DeleteJonny Young Four
Lee
Lee, the tune and both bands are new-to-me. The Brit group cover is good, but the original seems to set best with my listening pleasure better. Why? I don't know! It just like it more. Anyhoo, give my vote to McGuinness Flint!
ReplyDeleteCathy, I know how that can go not knowing why but just liking something better.
DeleteAnother vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
Hi Lee -
ReplyDeleteI just passed you on the highway heading east. I went thru Livingston yesterday, on the way to Mt. Rushmore for a short peek, then on to Iowa.
I knew nuttin' about either group or the song, but was a bit thrown by the obvious British accent of the Jonny Young band lead. Country tunes should be devoid of accents other than Texas or the South. I'm votin' for our man Flint. Via con Dios!
SBB6, we left out of Livingston bright and early on the 15th so probably missed you. Will you be hitting the state fair in Iowa?
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
It depends on which way you headed. If you headed west on 90, I was heading east from the Deer Lodge area fairly early. I'm guessing you turned south on 15 at Butte. Like ships that pass in the night. Which is worth two in the bush, and more than a penny earned.
DeleteYup, we'll go to the Iowa State Fair. We always go if we are in Iowa at the correct time. It is a fun fair, and kind of a nostalgic activity. Hopefully all those liars, er, candidates, will have stopped stumping by the time we go there so we eat our giant pork chops, strawberry shortcake, and fried pickles in peace!
Actually we went south on 89 to go to Yellowstone and then to Salt Lake City from there. Great trip, but nice to be back home.
DeleteI'd love to have visited the Iowa State Fair. It's been years since I've been to any state fair and always loved them when I did visit. Never been to the one in Iowa. That fair has been in the news a lot lately. I wouldn't have minded hearing some of the candidates. Might have been fun.
Lee
ReplyDelete>>... "Since I usually don't pay much attention to lyrics I didn't take much notice..."
LEE, you have said similar things several times in comments and it still mystifies me. You are a writer-wannabe, right? How could song lyrics not interest you? That's a form of writing.
But you're not the only one: My friend DiscConnected has also said that he pays little attention to song lyrics, and yet I have in my possession 6 booklets (most of them 53 pages long) that he self-published of song lyrics he hoped others might want to record someday.
As I said, I'm mystified by you AND Doctor DiscDude.
I'm interested in every element of songs, from the lyrics, to the melody, to the harmonizing, and the instrumentation. Some songs focus more on one element than another, but I find that I contemplate all of the factors that constitute a musical recording.
Anyway, I like plenty of Country songs, but this one doesn't do much for me. The sound quality is considerably better in the Jonny Young Four cover, so I guess I'll vote for them based on that. It's not a song that I dislike, but it doesn't appeal to me in any particular way.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
STMcC. it's not so much that lyrics don't interest me as much as it is the music precedes the words for me. I'm not only a writer, but I'm also a musician so that's what I tend to hear first. In some cases the words reach out and grab me like in songs by Dylan or Cockburn, but most of the time it's the music that influences me most. I'm sure the words often have some kind of influence on my mind and often it's just a line, a chorus, or the start of the song. There are so many songs that I'll start singing along to at first and then soon realize I don't know all the words.
DeleteI'm interested in every element of songs, from the lyrics, to the melody, to the harmonizing, and the instrumentation.
I do too, but there's also a memory and focus factor for me. If I zero in on the lyrics then that's where I might stay. For the most part I just dwell in the complete experience of a song and note favorite aspects. Writer than I am, more often than not a piece of music will set my mind a-wandering as I start thinking up my own thoughts and stories as inspired by that music.
This would be an interesting study. I wonder if anyone has delved into it to any great extent?
A vote for Jonny Young Four.
Lee
I like the McGuinness Flint one best. Nice sound to it. Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteShannon, we're now how and thankfully safe.
DeleteMcGuinness Flint for you.
Lee
Vote for McGuinness here. I'm not sure I can explain why, exactly... Like you said, both versions are pretty similar, but there's something about the McG one that -- I don't know. Does it sound weird to say that it sound more genuine? That's the sense I get, anyway. Don't get me wrong; I liked the Jonny Young Four version. It's just... Wow. I'm usually not this bad at putting stuff into words, haha.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: vote for McGuinness :)
Thanks for hopping over to Quiet Laughter earlier, Lee -- and glad I made it here in time to vote!
Guilie, I can understand the ambiguity. You're not the only one who has stated something similar.
DeleteGot your vote for McGuinness Flint.
Lee
McGuinness Flint gets my vote. I like the instrumentation much better, oh dear, does that even sound right? For me there was too much twang in the first rendition!
ReplyDeleteYolanda, twang with a British accent yet! I get what you're saying about the "instrumentation"--sounds good to me.
DeleteLee
Jonny Young Four gets my vote. I liked the vocals better, more happening.
ReplyDeleteMike, a vote for those happening guys.
DeleteJonny Young Four
Lee
Neither one jumped out at me.. but I'm going to go ahead and give my vote to McGuiness Flint.
ReplyDeleteMary, not very enthusiastic, but a vote nevertheless.
DeleteThanks for your vote for McGuinness Flint
Lee
I seem to be partial to Jonny Young Four. Sound more pleasing to me and peppier. This was a great song to discover, I don't believe I had heard it before. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey, glad you enjoyed the song.
DeleteJonny Young Four
Lee
Hmmm...I had to listen to each one twice. I'm voting for McGuinness Flint.
ReplyDeleteJay, it's a nuanced decision. Thanks for taking the time though.
DeleteGot you down for McGuiness Flint.
Lee
Surprisingly- after all, you introed me to MGF- I'll go with the JY4 version. And boy you are right, finding anything other than band members' names is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteCW, a vote for a band lost to music history:
DeleteJonny Young Four
Lee
You know, I've never heard of these artists. (But that's not surprising.) And my speaker has be STOLEN by my very loving children. *sigh* But I'm happy to report that Iove Yellowstone. Even worked there for a summer. Ah, memories.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, sorry you lost your computer sound. A summer of youth in Yellowstone would be like a dream come true. What place!
DeleteLee
I liked the guitar work in Jonny Young's better than McGuinness Flint's, and liked his voice better. Cast my vote for the Jonny Young Four.
ReplyDeleteJohn, got your vote down as another for
DeleteJonny Young Four
Lee